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The Youth Sport Trust helps us plant seeds for kids to believe in better

by Kimberly Wyatt, Youth Sport Trust Ambassador

Kimberly Wyatt is best known for being a part of one of the biggest girl groups of all time The PussyCat Dolls, selling over 50 million records across the globe.

With her roots firmly planted in dance, Kimberly took on the role of lead judge on Sky1’s UK show ‘Got to Dance’ for five seasons and recently enjoyed massive success when she was crowned winner of Celebrity Masterchef 2015. Kimberly is currently filming popular dance show 'Taking the next step' for CBBC.

Now a mum to 10 month old Willow, Kimberly lives in London with her husband Max and continues to enjoy cooking healthy family food she is passionate about inspiring others to be fit and healthy and particularly devotes her time to inspiring the younger generation to follow their dreams and lead a healthy, happy lifestyle.

As a young girl I was in awe of the Olympics. I loved gymnastics and figure skating, and my first dream was to compete on the stage so I found a dance studio and fell in love straight away.

It helped give me an outlet because at school I was a very shy girl who didn’t have a lot of confidence or friends. I was always quite athletic but by the time I was nine or 10 I was so into my dancing that there really wasn’t room for competitive sports in school. I didn’t fit that traditional mould.

That’s why I’m so inspired to talk to girls who are shy and not getting the physical education that is so incredibly important at school. You might not be a competitive sports person but there is a real sense of achievement when you find something that you love and there are a lot of girls and boys out there who love to dance.

Schools need to provide an outlet for young performers – I think it’s the key to creating synergy among classes because everybody dances; it’s a universal language. Dance and performance art taught me how to express myself emotionally through movement and have a bigger purpose which gave me a voice. We need young people to want to learn and it’s up to us, as teachers, to consistently find ways to encourage that.

Now that I am a mum I have a real concern about the ‘selfie’ generation. I call it that because I think the world of TV has taught our young generation that fame comes overnight. While fame may be something you can aspire to, the message I want to send is that it doesn’t happen at once. Like other high profile athletes and performers, I trained hard and I think it’s my duty to clear that up for youngsters.

My advice to young girls would be to find something that you’re passionate about because that purpose is going to spur you on to achieve great things. Whether its sports, gymnastics or dance – give it a go because you might be good at it. It took me 27 years of life experience to figure out that happiness is the root of a successful existence, but it’s up to us as individuals to find it and being physically active really helps.

As my daughter grows up, I want her to find something that gives her the confidence to keep achieving and striving for more. If my becoming a celebrity has given me anything then I hope I can use it to help give those kids at school a voice to ask for the opportunities they need.

I’m working with the Youth Sport Trust because I believe it’s a platform that’s making a real difference, for example by finding ways to connect Olympic medal-winners to those at school who are striving for greatness.

The first competition that I entered, I just entered for experience – but I went and I won and that really showed that all the hard work and passion was paying off. This inspired me to keep going for it, dream big and believe in myself. Although I didn’t have many friends and was super shy, I knew I could go into a dance studio and get lost in the music and create something I was really proud of and I think that’s the seed that was planted in who I am today.

The Youth Sport Trust helps us plant seeds in schools for kids to believe in better. It makes me so excited to meet children and their teachers and see that they have a place in their schools where they can come together and create. I want all kids to get up, move and be happy doing it and that’s what I now look forward to working towards creating.